Moldova (bbabo.net), - The management of the Moldovan Railways enterprise is going to put up for auction about a hundred locomotives. Their service life has expired. The starting price will be determined by the specialized commission of the Public Property Agency. The pandemic auction is likely to be held on an electronic platform. The proceeds from the sale of equipment will be used to pay off debts to the state and bank creditors, tv6.md reports.

Nikolay Stoyanov, reporter for TV6: “In many parts of the country, although most are located in the Unghen depot, there are hundreds of locomotives in storage, which no one has been using for many years. Once they transported cargo and passengers, but now, according to the railway management, most of them are suitable only for scrap ”.

The locomotives that want to be auctioned are between 30 and 50 years old. They have been in the depot for over 20 years. Rust and time have done their job. According to the most conservative estimates of specialists, capital repairs of each of them will require from 400 to 500 thousand euros. Now this is an unaffordable amount for the enterprise. Therefore, it is cheaper and safer for passengers and cargo to buy and start up new cars.

Oleg Tofilat, General Director of ZDM: "Part of our plan for the modernization and development of the railway is to cover historical debts by selling unnecessary assets."

The company, according to the most conservative estimates, today has a debt of several hundred million lei, so the proceeds from the sale are going to be spent on its repayment.

"This money will primarily go to cover tax debts and international bank loans, because we owe the Ministry of Finance. Naturally, this will free up other funds that we will use to cover wage arrears," says Tofilat.

Another part of the funds will be used to upgrade the rolling stock. Last year, ZhDM purchased 12 new locomotives, each costing 3.825 million euros. This made it possible to restore some flights, for example, communication with Bucharest and Odessa.

Svetlana Basso, employee of the Chisinau railway station: “The passenger traffic has increased, especially with the resumption of the Chisinau-Bucharest and Chisinau-Odessa flights. At the moment, we receive salaries regularly, month after month. Payments are underway with debts on previous salaries. People are in a very militant, positive mood ”.

But according to the general director of the "Railway", a complete renovation of the park and tracks is necessary, and this will require about 750 million euros. At the same time, the new rolling stock will last about 25-30 years, and rail tracks - up to 50 years.

“We need to buy about 4,000 pastures and about 30 shunting locomotives just to keep the industry alive. For those cars that we are currently operating, in about two or three years, all service life, all extended periods will expire, ”Tofilat notes.

More than 120 locomotives are planned to be put up for auction. Due to the pandemic, sales will most likely be carried out on an electronic site. For each locomotive, even at the price of metal, they plan to gain about 40-45 thousand euros. In addition, there is a proposal to get rid of a number of unused real estate objects.

Dmitry Prokhnitskiy, public relations specialist of the Railway Ministry: “We are located on Feredeului street in the center of Chisinau. This building is one of the objects that may be put up for sale. At the moment they are not used for their intended purpose, for which they were previously intended. "

If the Public Property Agency approves the proposal of the "Railway of Moldova", this building and about 30 other objects throughout the country will be sold at an auction. The journalists contacted the Agency, its representative Aura Revenko said that comments on the planned auction would be provided later.

Some of the best-preserved diesel locomotives are likely to be sold in single lots to move cargo between workshops in large factories and factories. According to the head of the Railway Ministry, there are already a number of companies from the Baltic States, Ukraine and Russia that are interested in such a purchase.

According to Oleg Tofilat, if the state approves the organization of the auction, the process can be launched at the end of spring.

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